Celebrating sixty years of Cauldon Cement

Introduction

Founded in 1957 as the first dry-process cement plant in the UK, due to a limited supply of water on the site, Cauldon cement plant this year celebrates its 60^th anniversary. Cauldon cement employs 150 people and produces roughly 960 000 tpy of cement; nearly 10% of Britain’s cement production. This equates to 2 million bags a month Nestled in the heart of the Staffordshire countryside, it sits in close proximity to the villages of Cauldon and Waterhouse, which have grown and thrived due to the employment opportunities provided by the plant. Although its ownership by LafargeHolcim makes it part of a global company, with all the commercial, training and travel opportunities that come with it, at its centre Cauldon cement still feels like a local business, with employees who have been there for over 40 years, and strong ties to the community. The local school is an excellent reflection of this: it also celebrates its 60^th anniversary alongside that of the plant, having been built to accommodate the children of those who worked on site all those years ago. Cauldon cement is, as ex-plant manager Martin Bains put it, ‘multilocal’. With the plant’s anniversary celebrations in full swing, World Cement visited the site to both take a look at how far it has come over the last sixty years, and investigate where it plans to go in the future.